Picnic
by RQK
Summary: A simple act of sharing a meal can be just as much an adventure as everything else. A oneshot about companionship.


The end of the summer was a day he himself never thought would come. There had been so many adventures over the past one-hundred and three days. He had lost count a long time ago, and thusly the one-hundred and fourth day sprang upon him before he was ready.

The sun was nearly setting, and school would start soon. If there was any time left to do just one more thing, the last few hours they had would be the time to do it it.

Phineas looked at the ground before them, trying to think of something to do. More than anything, he wanted to squeeze one last adventure into the time they had left. They had already spent most of the day doing something else.

While, supposedly, it was supposed to fill the unwritten quota for the day, this day was different. Once the sun set, that was it. There was no tomorrow that they could have. The window was nearly closed.

"Ah, Ferb..." Phineas sighed, "I guess it's over, right?"

Ferb merely shrugged, not really knowing what to think either. His mind was also drawing a blank.

"We could perhaps make a time machine and travel back in time?" Baljeet offered.

Phineas shook his head, "No, we already did that." _Though it is tempting..._ he thought. _If we went back, we could have a few extra days..._

Buford, who had been standing behind them, also shook his head. "That's a dumb idea anyways."

"We could just relax and hang out..." Isabella said, trying to suggest something to them.

Phineas thought for a second. "No... we need to do something exciting. Something to go out with a bang."

Isabella frowned. "But it's the one thing we haven't done yet..." she said, giving a sigh a moment later. More than anything she just wanted to spend some time with him.

Phineas looked at the horizon, judging how much daylight they had left. "Does anyone have any ideas?" he asked, turning to face everyone.

"No." Buford replied, almost tauntingly.

Baljeet frowned, "No... I cannot think of anything."

Even Perry, who was situated beside Ferb, gave a sound. Whether or not he had an idea, whatever it was could not be discerned by his human companions.

Phineas bit his lip, "Come on, I'm sure there is _something_ we can do..."

Isabella stood there for a moment, looking between everyone, before smiling. "I know what we can do." she said, a twinkle in her eye. "I'll be right back." she said, skipping into the house.

It wasn't even a minute before she came back out, holding a basket and what looked like a red and white checkboard cloth. The basket was full of sandwiches and various other foods.

Buford shook his head in disbelief, "There is no way you put that together in a minute."

Isabella smiled, "Breaking the immutable laws of physics is easier the third time around." she said, intentionally echoing something Phineas had said sometime earlier.

Neither Phineas and Baljeet could help but chuckle.

Isabella then skipped back into the house to retrieve more things. She came back a moment later with many large objects.

The large objects were then quickly assembled to make a platform that would give them a perfect view of the sunset. The square was elevated over the top of the fence, allowing them to see past the sprawl of the suburbs and to the edge of the horizon.

She placed the cloth on top of the structure, making the space into a makeshift picnic area.

Satisfied with the result, she turned to the others below. "Climb on!" she said, motioning with her hand.

Phineas smiled, climbing onto the structure. "Wow, cool Isabella." he said, observing what she had quickly put together.

The girl smiled back, "Thanks Phineas."

Baljeet, who had also climbed on, looked at the setup, "So what is this? A _picnic?_"

"Yep."

Buford immediately dug into the basket. "Yeah, well there's probably nothing good in h-" he paused, having felt something in the basket. He pulled out what looked like a brown sphere. "Coconut..." He quickly found a spot on the blanket and started eating.

Isabella motioned to the picnic basket, "Dig in everyone!" she said, quickly grabbing a sandwich out of the basket and taking a seat on the blanket.

While Ferb and Baljeet obliged the offer (with the former also grabbing one for Perry), Phineas just stood there, slightly dumbfounded. He simply stood there as the others sat down to eat.

Isabella looked up at him, "Phineas?"

Phineas shook his head, snapping himself out of the small trance he was in, "Sorry, it's just... not what I had in mind."

Isabella smiled and said, "Here." She patted the spot next to her on the blanket, inviting him to join her.

Phineas didn't react for a moment, but soon reached into the basket and grabbed a sandwich as well. He sat down next to Isabella, not quite sure what to think of the whole thing. He was so focused on the thought he didn't even notice her blush.

Baljeet took a bite out of his sandwich. "Mmmm... it's good..."

Isabella smiled, and looked over at Phineas. He seemed to be staring into the distance, deep in thought.

Nearby, Ferb was silently eating his sandwich, taking in the flavor. Perry was next to him, having one of his own. Baljeet was behind them, eating as well. As for Buford, he was content with his coconut.

Isabella's smile faded, it was obvious that Phineas wasn't quite comfortable with what they were doing. She didn't like that thought.

For a couple of minutes, there was silence all around. Not another word was spread between the six. They simply kept on eating, taking in each other's company.

Phineas hadn't even touched his food. That wasn't a good sign.

"Phineas..." isabella finally said, "whatcha' doin'?"

The boy sighed, "I... I don't know. We aren't doing anything. This is boring."

Isabella felt something in her heart. It felt like it had skipped a beat, and in this case that wasn't a good thing. She didn't like what she was hearing.

Phineas continued. "We were supposed to do something! What are we doing right now?" he turned, looking back at everyone else.

After a moment of silence, Ferb replied with a simple response; "Us."

Everyone looked at Ferb, slightly confused for a moment.

It was a moment before Ferb spoke again. "We are doing us right now." he said.

Baljeet thought about it for a moment, then looked at the scene. Five friends (and a platypus), having a picnic, watching a sunset. It was indeed out of the norm. However, at the same time, he realized the meaning behind Ferb's statement, and smiled at Phineas. "Yep."

Buford, who was nearly done with his coconut, looked up at Phineas. While the corner of his mouth was curled slightly upwards, he didn't say anything. He didn't have to.

Phineas looked at the two, before glancing back at his stepbrother. The green haired boy nodded to confirm what Phineas was thinking.

Phineas looked at Isabella, who was smiling back at him. "Please?" she said, "It's just as much of an adventure as all those doodads you always build."

Phineas was still slightly confused. "What is?" he asked.

"Friendship."

There was nodding all around, even by Perry. The platypus was visably smiling. It would have been noted had anyone been looking for a reaction from him in particular, but it was not.

After a moment, Phineas finally got what she meant to tell him. "Okay. I guess we can do it." He turned to face the sun, and sat down next to Isabella. The girl smiled.

Phineas took a bite of his sandwich, decided to share the same experience as his friends. His eyes glazed toward the sunset, its radiant reds and oranges floating over the canvas that was the sky. He smiled.

The six were content to watch the sunset, to simply enjoy each other's company.


End file.
